Impact of the dalkon shield 40 years later scientific research. The human cost of the dalkon shield purports to focus on the human costs of the dalkon shield intrauterine contraceptive device iud during and following the prolonged litigation process. In the 1980s, researchers discovered that the dalkon shield caused an array of severe injuries, including pelvic infection, infertility, unintended pregnancy, and death. Mss 004a addendum to the papers of the dalkon shield. Dalkon shield victim shares battle in book the morning call. The dalkon shield was invented in 1968, was made primarily of plastic, and had feet four or five on each side to prevent expulsion. Jouri valter tapani luukkainen, a medical researcher at the university of helsinki, introduced the.
May 04, 2016 lets dig in to the story behind the dalkon shield and this pervasive fear of iuds. The author deftly weaves the dalkon shield drama into the larger story of the life of a oneofakind man, crafting a sweeping and spirited truelife tale with not only her firsthand experiences as the judges law clerk but also with unrestricted access to the judges personal files. Jul 25, 2017 the dalkon shield an intrauterine device iud developed by davis in 1970 the a. Early life and education ross was one of the first women of color who won the lawsuit against a. Liars can figure though the dalkon shield may prove to be no less. A dalkon shield, an intrauterine contraceptive is one of the largest class action lawsuits, in terms of claimants, in united states history.
Davis, inventor of the dalkon shield, wrote the introduction to seamans book and promoted the dalkon shield as a safer alternative. Dalkon shield was the contraceptive knight in shining armor for women in the 1970s, but no one could see the disaster until 18 women died and 15 years later women avoided iuds like the plague. The book is concerned with a number of tortious claims for punitive damages brought against the a h robins company for its reckless marketing of a contraceptive. The story of the dalkon shield bankruptcy, richard b. Why the best form of birth control is the one no one is using iuds started emerging in the u. Davis, 69, gynecologist who invented dalkon shield. The dalkon shield harkens back to an era when the health and wellbeing of people with uteruses erroneously typed as exclusively women was a secondary concern to profits in the contraceptive industry oh wait.
Dalkon shield, intrauterine birth control device iud sold. Robins company, makers of the defective dalkon shield iud, responded to legal actions brought because of the product, the limiting of individual and corporate liability was achieved, but at the expense of some 200,000 women who claimed that during the early 1970s use of the defective contraceptive and robinss. Because the dalkon shield cases were so intricate, bacigal chronicled a separate account of the litigation, resulting in a compact book of about 125 pages. Robins company in the us, the dalkon shield was a contraceptive device placed directly into a womans uterus that was supposed to prevent pregnancy. She contributed an article on dalkon shield to sage publications encyclopedia. And it is a story that points up the difference between science and law.
Robins company acquired the dalkon shield from the dalkon corporation, founded by hugh j. Robbins company for their defective intrauterine product, dalkon shield. Introduction the history of the dalkon shield spans more than thirty years and is charged with controversy at every turn. Dalkon shield victim shares battle in book the morning. Robins company starting in 1971 in the united states and puerto rico. It is a story of individual heartbreak and corporate defeat. Read all about the history of the dalkon shield on this wikipedia page. Women who wore the dalkon shield, which was on the market from 1970 to 1974, ran more than twice the risk of other iud wearers of developing pelvic inflammatory disease, a severe infection that can. In 1970, after being marketed independently, it was sold to familyowned pharmaceutical giant a. The union carbide incident was one of the worst industrial disasters the world has ever seen but it was not just the one day in 1984 that brands it. The sad legacy of the dalkon shield the new york times. In 196819 69, davis studied his new dalkon shield iud in 640 inner city women from. Both these books chronicle the events surrounding the adverse effects of the dalkon shield intrauterine device.
Destroyed by his own invention hugh davis had it all. Ross was born in temple, texas on august 16, 1953, the sixth of eight children in a blended family. The limits of litigation the dalkon shield controversy. Roberta walburn on miles lord the maverick judge who brought. The shield, which was introduced in 1970, was used by nearly 3 million women, thousands of whom suffered infections, complicated pregnancies, and other side effects. The books at hand tell the gruesome story of the dalkon shield, from its dominance of the iud market in the early 1970s to its official recall in. Abstract the dalkon shield claimants trust collection, 19382000 bulk 19701998, traces the history of the dalkon shield, the intrauterine contraceptive device manufactured and sold by the a. Grant documents the history of the dalkon shield case and places the cont. It was first promoted as a safer alternative to birth control pills, because at the time, there were concerns that the pill caused blood clots and increased cancer. Reporters engelmayer and wagman have anchored their book around their own judicial clint eastwood, chief judge miles lord of the federal district court of minnesota, who dispensed a kind of frontier justice to move along the dalkon shield cases before him, with dramatic results. The indications are overwhelmingfrom the history of the robins company, from the words of both the elder and the younger robins, and from innumerable documentsthat had a device law been on the books, the company would never have seriously considered the dalkon shield. The conclusions and recommendations are not very insightful. The shield differs from most other iuds in that it has small protrusions intended to reduce the chance of expul sion.
The dalkon shield case, sexuality, and womens autonomy. History of the dalkon shield in 1966, robert israel and hugh davis f rom johns hopkins university report ed their stud y to explain t he possi ble mechanism of action of iuds. Between 1970 and 1974, when the manufacturer withdrew the device because. Feb 20, 1999 the money was from the dalkon shield trust, a fund established in the 1980s to deal with a classaction lawsuit filed by the more than 150,000 women injured by a faulty birthcontrol device. As juries across the united states begin to award huge punitive damages against the pharmaceutical company it becomes obvious that the survival of the. In this brutal indictment of the birth control industry, nicole j. The victims tell the dalkon shield saga from their point of view. After a lawyer turns whistleblower, the company that made the dalkon shield warns women of its dangers. The birth control pill, still being relatively new, had some kinks yet to be worked out.
Joryn jenkins, federal bar news and journal this is an accessible history of the case by a veteran civilrights lawyer. Robbins company brought the dalkon shield to market, billed as a safer alternative to the pill. Robins company took the shield off the market, and the us food and drug administration banned the device. The shield also differs from other iuds because of its polyfilamented more than. Grant documents the history of the dalkon shield case and places the controversy within a larger historical and social context, examining the ways in which social conditions affect womens choices about contraception. How many times have women been told this quaint story f about camel stones.
The story of the dalkon shield bankruptcy by richard b. Dec 01, 2017 in the early 1970s, the dalkon shield became the best selling iud in the country with 80 percent of the market. It had moved on from hugh davis and the dalkon shield. The author is a former law clerk of judge miles lord 19192016, then plaintiffs personal injury lawyer for the triumphant firm in the judges landmark dalkon shield case. In this minutely detailed, welldocumented, clearly written report on complex litigation, sobol, a washington, d. The history of the dalkon shield spans more than thirty years and is charged with controversy at every turn. Hormone releasing intrauterine devices or hormonal iuds are contraceptive devices placed in a womans uterus to prevent pregnancy by continuously releasing a low dose of certain hormones. Nightmare is the chilling story of the betrayal of 2. Robins company, from purchase of the device in 1970 through tort litigation and bankruptcy settlement in 1988. Drawing upon an analysis of thirty years worth of articles in medical journals and popular magazines, family. It was called a shield because it resembled a policemans badge 12.
Dec 07, 2016 hugh davis, inventor of the dalkon shield, wrote the introduction to seamans book and promoted the dalkon shield as a safer alternative. The dalkon shield was a contraceptive intrauterine device developed by the dalkon corporation and marketed by the a. Mss 004 papers of the dalkon shield claimants trust, 19701998. The dalkon shield intrauterine birth control device iud was a defective product manufactured and sold by the a. No one knows the extent of the damage inflicted by the 800,000 to one million shields distributed and implanted. Although palmer wanted more children, she also wanted to wait a few years before having her next child, so she began searching for an effective and safe contraceptive. Dec 06, 1987 the story of the dalkon shield is a story of loss and suffering and bitterness and pain. Guide to the dalkon shield claimants trust collection 1938. Walburns book is an unapologetic tribute to an advocate judge. What follows is a very brief overview of the shield from its creation and marketing, through tort litigation and bankruptcy, to the trust settlement of more than 200,000. Many legal scholars and journalists have written on the subject.
A brief history of the dalkon shield and the chapter ii case is set forth in in re a. Mss 004 papers of the dalkon shield claimants trust, 1970. The book is written in a confusing way with various portions of the dalkon shield history inserted in chapters without a clear chronological order. The dalkon shield an intrauterine contraceptive device is gone from. The trust collection traces the history of the dalkon shield, the intrauterine. At age 36, she was forced to undergo a hysterectomy. Sobol 1991, hardcover at the best online prices at ebay. Roberta walburn on miles lord the maverick judge who. In 1971, dalkon shields went to the market, beginning in the united states and puerto rico, spearheaded by a large marketing campaign. Hugh davis invented the dalkon shield in 1968 and later sold the rights to a. Millions of the dalkon shield were sold in 80 countries around the world. Mar 28, 2016 the dalkon shield was invented in 1968, was made primarily of plastic, and had feet four or five on each side to prevent expulsion. The book is balanced and explains the views of each side of the controversy. The case has become the largest tort case in history, with approximately 200,000 claimants worldwide and will not be w.
This book is written so that both lawyer and nonlawyer will enjoy it. Feb 17, 1994 a dalkon shield, an intrauterine contraceptive iud she wore for 10 years, was ruining her reproductive system. American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 106, 455456. The dalkon shield was found to cause severe injury to a disproportionately large percentage of women, which eventually led to numerous lawsuits, in which juries awarded millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages. Walburns deeply sourced book shows that judges are political animals, none more openly than the late. In doing so, i will draw on arguments i made in my book on the history of emergency contraception.
Although there are some accounts from women who suffered adverse health consequences with use of this iud, the book focuses more on the history of the device, from its. He was just a man with a wife and two kids and perhaps a very limited life. Winner of the american bar associations 1992 silver gavel award in recog. Mss 004 papers of the dalkon shield claimants trust. The 71 clinical trials of the dalkon shield show that when this device is. What follows is a very brief overview of the shield from its creation and marketing, through tort litigation and bankruptcy, to the trust settlement of more. A cash settlement, but no apology the new york times. The dalkon shield claimants trust collection, 19382000 bulk 19701998, traces the history of the dalkon shield, the intrauterine contraceptive device manufactured and sold by the a.
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